Our Buddy and Baseball

Aaron...that little boy has me wrapped around his finger. All he has to do is look at me with those big blue eyes, bat those eyelashes.....I pretty much will do whatever he says. :) Even play baseball in the yard in the heat of August; which is what we did a lot of today.

As most of you know, he looks just like his daddy. He even has a lot of the same gestures and mannerisms. But, he has his mommy's love and competitive drive in sports. Now, don't get me wrong, his daddy loves sports too. But, Jason loved the game and could care less if he won or lost. Jason is a true team player. Like Abigail. I, on the other hand, loved the game and would sacrifice my body to win. Even at 7 years old I can remember playing tag in the front yard and a boy named Doug was chasing me....no way on earth was I going to let a boy catch me. So I wound up doing a flip in the air and landing flat on my face on the gravel, but he never caught me until I was down. I have played beach volleyball for hours and hours and hours to the point of dehydration many times..even passing out. Some of you are reading this and thinking I am crazy. But, it is who I am. I have been watching the Olympics and wishing I was one :) ha ha ha. I just love sports! I love to compete. And our little boy does too. And he loves to win. I am having to teach him that he just needs to give his best, win or lose. I don't want him to be so hard on himself or be so concerned with how many hits he had or how many times he scored. It is a hard thing to teach coming from someone who had to work on that her whole life.

Aaron just loves every sport. When he sees the Olympics on T.V...he starts talking about the "olympians" (he must have heard them called that on tv or from Jason) and if they are from the USA and what exactly are they playing...can you teach me how to play that?, what are the rules, how do you keep score etc, etc.

So, today we played beach volleyball in the playroom. Aaron would spike the ball as hard as he could right at my head!, but I would spike it right back :) we had a blast.....yes, dear, we did, I am sorry that we played ball in the house, but it was so hot and it was a soft beach ball...then of course we had to play baseball. No, we did not play that in the house. Aaron wanted me to teach him how to catch better with his glove, like Daddy does, so that when Daddy gets home we can play catch with the glove. So sweet! When he would catch the ball with the glove, I would do a crazy dance and give him a high five. He barrelled over laughing each time and said I was just like 'grandma'. He didn't know he had just given me a huge compliment. Then, of course, he had to bat, and bat, and bat, over and over again...I am horrible at baseball, so that ball speeding towards my face scares me a little. I am usually ducking and covering my face with the glove so he won't pound me too bad. But, we had a great time together. Mother and son. I love you Aaron.

When you are older, and you go back and read this journal, (my hope is you will someday) and read the things you, Abigail and Allison were doing , and what Mom was thinking about that day...this is something I want you to hold onto because I have a feeling you are going to need to hear this one day....

Sports are fun. Winning is fun. But, more important than all of that Aaron is that you are God's child. He loves you even more than I love you Aaron, which is a whole bunch. Remember this, God has gifted you in many ways. He has made you love sports and has given you athletic ability. But, He wants you to use all your gifts to glorify Him. God wants you to do things you love to do. He is in control. He gives gifts and He can also take them away when he needs to in order to ground you and bring you back to Him. Always give God's best and give Him all the glory. Thank Him everyday for the gifts He has given you.

Abigail's First Day of First Grade

So hard to believe that our little baby girl started first grade yesterday! She was so excited for school that she popped out of bed at 6 am....had her clothes on by 6:05...and completely ready for school by 7. An hour earlier than needed :) We will see how long that lasts. I am sure in a couple of weeks I will be pulling her out of bed by her toe nails, as she is a heavy sleeper. I took her to school on the first day because I wanted to see her classroom and meet her teacher. If given the choice, she probably would have chosen to ride the bus. Her teacher is Miss Hawk. Abigail had imagined she had short dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was about my size. When we met her, we found out, that she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. :) So, she was a little off. Four of Abigail's little girl friends from her room last year are in her room this year. Abigail was so excited about that! Abigail's best friend, Jenna, is in her room. They sat across the room from each other. Abigail sat down and starting working on the coloring sheet that Miss Hawk had on their desks for them to work on. The room was so quiet. I was filling out paper work. Then, Jenna, hollers across the room..."hey, Are you riding the bus home from school?" Abigail says back..."Yes, I think so!" So, I mark out car rider... (chuckling under my breath...is this the same child that just a year ago I had to convince her to ride the bus after a month of school???)....and change to bus rider on the form that I had just filled out for how she was to get home on the first day. Wow, she sure has grown up. So secure, so confident. She had a great first day. Loves her teacher and was up at 6 am again this morning :) Came home beaming after a second day. She was rewarded with some superstar award that she will get to retrieve a prize from a treasure chest tomorrow. She is pumped!! Enjoy the pics from the first day! :)

More Pictures from the Beach

Has it really been since June???

Wow! I can't believe that I haven't written since Father's Day. We have been so busy traveling. I have much to talk about. Apparently there are a few people who read this because they have noticed that I haven't written a thing in awhile. :)

The Walton's have been out of town a lot lately. I will start off with our trip to Texas. We go every summer and do the "Tour de Tejas". Visiting my two families and as many extended relatives that we can see. I am currently one of two relatives who live outside the state of Texas. Me and my Aunt Diane are the only two. Can you imagine...out of all my family...brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents galore...I am the only one that left that great state??? We must be brainwashed at birth or something. People just don't leave...unless otherwise by force...just kidding honey...you did not force me to come to TN. I do love it here. But, I do miss my family. Anyway, back to our trip, we flew. Yee Haw! Yeah! It was such an easy trip. Me and the three little ones (Jason, unfortunately, had to stay and work). Aaron and Abigail didn't remember every riding on a plane, so it was a lot of fun watching them. We had just been to Disney World, so I think they expected the plane to feel like the Tower of Terror or the ride Soarin. Aaron kept saying...doesn't this thing go any faster? too funny. We visited Austin first. Got to see my sister Melody and her husband Casey and their four sweet kiddos. My other siblings..Emily and her little girl Madison, Ryan, and Kyle and wife Jenna. And of course my parents. Great fun. So glad to see everyone. The kids swam and swam some more and just had a blast playing with their cousins. I also was able to get to go to my dad's retirement reception. After 35 years of working for the department, he retired! Unbelievable. Almost shocking actually for us kids. We are all so proud of my dad and for the work he has done for the state of Texas. I for one was tearing up at the reception. We are proud of him! Way to go Dad! Congratulations again! The time went fast and then we were off to Dallas to see my parents and sibling (Kristin and her babies Brayden and Kenzie) there. I got to see a lot of my extended family...uncles, grandma. We had a blast. The first day we were there my mom took me and the kids (minus Allison) to Six Flags! Way too much fun! My mom bought one of those fastpass things. We stood in absolutely no lines and rode everything. Aaron rode the Shockwave which takes him on 2 loops...he loved it and was so proud of himself. We got off the ride and he said, "Mom, I wish the whole ride was upside down. that was my favorite part" Seriously though, we rode everything. Things that I used to love, made me sick. Must be because I am old. Abigail and I got on some rocket that goes upside down and I nearly puked when we were on it and felt sick for a long time after. But, my little girl, not even phased. The last ride of the day was the TITAN. Let me paint the picture for you...25 stories high...yes, I said 25 stories, on the smallest little rail ever! Abigail wanted to ride it, so off we went. I gave her very specific instructions. Do not look out!! Just look at me or look at the seat in front of us. Do not look out!! So of course, she looked out...while I stared at a yellow sticker that was in front of us, so that I wouldn't be tempted to look out....we were that high. Then we dropped and dropped and dropped! Wow, what a roller coaster. Abigail laughed and smiled the whole way and wanted to ride again! After Six Flags, we spent the rest of the time in Dallas, swimming, took a picture of all the grandkids, and swam some more. It was a quick trip, though we were gone over a week, but lots of fun! And so good to see everyone and let the kids play with their cousins.

When we got home, Abigail and Aaron were off to the beach with Gammie and Doc (Jason's parents). I met my mom in law halfway between B'ham and here and they drove the rest of the way to the beach. A couple of cousins (Ashton and Avery) spent the 5 days with them. They had a blast. Ate a lot. Boogie Boarded. Aaron got stung by a jellyfish, poor guy. Wish I had been there, though I am glad I wasn't...if that makes sense...Jason's dad is a doctor, so he was in better hands than mine :) It was so nice to just have little Allison and really dote on just her. She took about 7 steps! Hard to believe!!! She isn't even 11 months yet...I wonder if she will be doing everything a bit faster, just to keep up with brother and sister. Our sweet baby is growing so fast! Jason and I met everyone at the beach and then stayed a week there with just our family. I treasure that time together and the relaxation of it all. The beach was absolutely beautiful though the rip tide was strong due to the storm headed towards TX. I went for a walk by myself one day. I walked to a point on the beach where I was in complete solitude. I just stood there and marveled at God's amazing creation. The water was crystal clear, the sand so white....and God created all that for us to enjoy. His Love for us is so deep and so wide..just like that ocean I stood in awe of. It was sweet to share that with the kids and watch their little faces light up hearing about how much God loves them.

The whole trip we just played and played. Marco Polo, swim races, sandcastles, boogie boarding, doing flips in the water, and Jason throwing the kids so high that people next to us were commenting on how our kids were like rockets...he he he...you go honey! Anyway, we played Uno till the cows came home and did more puzzles than you can imagine. We just had so much fun and just really enjoyed hanging out. "veggin out" We are back home now and will not be traveling for awhile. School is about to start and as Abigail says..."I really need to get rid of my beach brain before school starts." I will have to say that goes for all of us! Enjoy the pics from the beach. I was really wishing my friend Jadie was here to take pictures of us...because I am just not the photographer that she is. but I tried :)